


In Memory of You

by sammuraii



Category: The Owl House (Cartoon)
Genre: Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Exploring Amity's Perspective, F/F, Fan theory, Hurt/Comfort, Lumity, Non-beta characters, Recount of Lumity moments in S1, Story takes place post S1, Theory Behind the Boiling Isles, Trip Down Memory Lane
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2021-01-29
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:14:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 15,957
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28311435
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sammuraii/pseuds/sammuraii
Summary: Their daily game of Hexes Hold’em had never been disrupted before, until today.Luz was about to gather her cards when a shrill voice screeched, “Belos has made a comeback!”A disheveled figure had thrown open the door.“Edalyn, I’m afraid Luz has got to go home. Belos is sending an army after her tomorrow at sundown — himself included. We haven’t got much time to spare.”Several years have elapsed since the fateful Day of Unity — a day scorched into the Boiling Isles’ history as one of immense horror. Though Emperor Belos’ reign of terror has long subsided since his petrification, his sudden reappearance has incited fear and suspicion on the isles again. In order to prevent the frightening repeat of history, Luz decides to return home permanently so the portal Belos is after can be destroyed without any qualms.Luz is thus set to leave tomorrow, but before she does, she goes to Eda with one last request — to enter Amity’s mind and relive the memories they shared together one last time.*If you like theories, do give this a read :) It follows the chronology of S1 though, so expect spoilers!Updates every Friday, 10pm GMT+8[ON HIATUS UNTIL MARCH]
Relationships: Amity Blight/Luz Noceda
Comments: 7
Kudos: 32





	1. Growing Petrification

**Author's Note:**

> Hello!
> 
> I jumped aboard the TOH express a lil too late, but I love how Luz's and Amity's characters are developed throughout S1, and I wanted to write and record all of them down :)
> 
> This project eventually bloomed into a theory, so completing this before S2 is released is a personal challenge for me that I hope to overcome lol
> 
> Enjoy!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> cover art is drawn by me :)

### 

“Watch and learn, kid,” Eda drew a card from the pile with easy confidence, glancing at it with a smug smile. Seated across the table, Luz watched as she added it to her hand rather surreptitiously in a playful, teasing manner.

Eda then selected a card and placed it down on the table. Her lips curled into a triumphant smirk as she watched her paper army rise and march into battle, facing off with Luz’s in deathly combat on the mahogany warfield.

Luz grimaced. Her troops were about to be battered to the ground mercilessly.

“Look out for her wild card, Luz!” King’s exhilarated voice rang out. Along with Amity and Owlbert, he was seated at the couch behind Eda, observing the tense game. Neck craned over precariously to get a better view, he was able to catch a glimpse at Eda’s hand.

“Hey! No helping the enemy,” Eda turned around and stuck a tongue out at the scruffy demon quickly before turning back. King straightened back up on the couch, pointing a claw defiantly, “The king of demons helps nobody —”

He was interrupted by a victory cry.

“Anddd… Booyah! I win!” Eda shot up and pumped both arms in the air, cheering wildly as soon as she played her winning card. A fiery row of words spelling out her name had appeared and was hovering in the air, marking a prompt defeat for her young opponent.

“Argh, not again!” Luz cried, throwing her head back in sporting, melodramatic loss. She released her grip on her cards and scattered them about the floor with a flourish. “Not your thirty-second consecutive win in your Hexes Hold’em streak!” she shifted her head back down again to look at Eda with flushed cheeks and fascinated eyes.

Luz had been sparring with Eda for the past few weeks and had gotten pretty good at the game herself, but she was always one step behind her mentor. Needless to say, she was in awe.

“You haven’t lost a match ever since you picked it up again last month, Eda,” Luz grinned.

Eda was now arranging the cards strewn across the table back in order, basking in quiet triumph. “Oh, don’t act like you don’t know me, Luz,” she snorted heartily. “I’ve been making grand comebacks my entire life.” She began riffling the cards in a deliberately showy display of skill and swagger.

Luz could not hold back a warm smile at that cherished sight.

“Now give me your cards so I can keep them and go for a nap,” Eda instructed, reaching an arm over the table towards Luz.

The young witch nodded in understanding. Ever since the curse had overwhelmed her, Eda’s vitality had deteriorated significantly. It was barely evening, but Eda needed an ample nap time before dinner.

Luz was about to gather her cards when a shrill voice screeched, “Belos has made a comeback!”

A disheveled figure had thrown open the door and burst through it in a wild frenzy. With a crazed mess of hair and a skirt tattered at the hem, she gripped her staff firmly in her ghastly white, clenched fist as if it were her only line of defence against some fearsome beast.

Luz dropped her cards in sudden fright at the sight of the mad creature.

Equally shocked, the rest whipped their heads around towards the door, where Hooty fumed with vexation, “Geez, Lilith — ow! What have I ever done to you? Hoot hoot.”

“You’ve tossed me and my sentries around like rag dolls only about a thousand times before,” Lilith muttered under her breath, glaring at him. But she knew better than to argue with Hooty. Her frustration soon melted into worry as she turned back to face Eda and subsequently, Luz.

“Edalyn, I’m afraid Luz has got to go home.” There was an urgent, earnest plea in her eyes as she beseeched them. “Belos is sending an army after her tomorrow at sundown — himself included. We haven’t got much time to spare.” 

A chorus of gasps erupted throughout the room — horrified expressions of incredulous disbelief.

Amity was the first to provide a logical rebuttal, in hopes of analysing the situation. “Didn’t he get petrified a few years ago?” she retorted, frowning with perplexion. “As far as we know, the process isn’t reversible.”

“I wish I knew how he managed to break free, but before I could find out, I had rushed off to warn all of you,” she sighed, confusion and anxiety weaving into one as it sent heavy wrinkles scouring across her forehead in deep-set grooves.

Eda motioned for her sister to step inside the house, signalling towards the couch. Her gentle movements were in direct opposition to Lilith’s agitated ones.

“Take a seat, Lily,” Eda's voice was strangely comforting. “Let’s talk.”

Slightly calmer, Lilith retracted her staff and it disappeared into some secret, intangible inventory. She took a step into the house.

“Sorry for barging in on such short notice,” she uttered, then turned back to look at Hooty, who was shutting the door behind her.

“Sheesh!” he scoffed with narrowed eyes.

Amity got up from the couch to make way for Lilith, taking a seat beside Luz on the floor. Meanwhile, King nestled himself comfortably on Eda’s lap after she had settled on the couch beside her sister.

The ruler of the Boiling Isles took a deep breath and steadied herself, while the rest began to listen with wary attention as she explained the situation.

“The magic seal on the law scriptures was due to wear off today, so I was in the throne room restoring it. The guards were on their evening patrols as usual, and nothing seemed amiss,” Lilith recounted, staring up at the ceiling to clear her mind.

“When I had the scriptures laid out before me, one of the guards struck me from behind. He changed something on them, and that sickly looking heart behind the throne started beating again.”

Luz and Amity exchanged looks of frightful disgust. They had been there enough number of times to know how ominously hideous it looked and sounded.

“Before I knew it, there was an invisible force pulling me towards the floor... like I was some sort of magnet,” Lilith grasped one hand in the other, as if in prayerful supplication.

Eda listened closely, nodding with a mix of understanding and bewilderment on her face.

“Belos… I- I heard his voice at the doors, and when I turned around, he had an entire wall of guards behind him. It was like they were all under his control,” Lilith continued, fear seeping into her slowly quivering voice.

“Whatever it was, it seemed like a well-timed plan,” Eda stated, eyes wandering about the room in deep thought. “And well executed too.”

“Yes, execution is good! Let’s spill some blood,” King added fiercely, sitting up erect at the mention of the deathly word. He mashed one balled fist into his free paw for a menacing effect. Or at least that was the effect he tried to go for.

“No, King,” Eda glared at him. “You remember how dangerous he was as the previous ruler, we can’t afford to charge in blindly.”

King sank back in defeat at the crushing truth of her words. He could not refute her there.

Eda was about to turn back to her sister, when her eyes rested on her clasped hands. There — on the back of her palm, an intricate symbol glowed faintly.

“Lily, your hand!” Eda took it in hers, examining the translucent blue lines that streaked across her pale hand. The mark was vague, but she could make it out with certainty nonetheless.

It was the insignia of the Emperor’s Coven.

Lilith slipped her hand out of her sister’s, letting out a surprised gasp. She lifted it closer to get a clearer look, “My branding!”

“That’s probably how he physically controlled you, along with the rest of the guards,” Eda concluded gravely.

“If that’s so, he probably let me escape because he knew I would lead him to all of you — ARGH!” she slammed her fist down in a rush of irritation at the horrid realisation.

She had not been able to think clearly before in all that panic back at the castle, but now everything made sense.

When she fled earlier, Belos had restrained the guards from pursuing her, under the notion that ‘she was a traitor anyway’. It only occurred to her now that he had had a hidden motive — evidence that even after his petrification, he was still as sly as ever.

Realising that it was pointless to get angry over what had already been done, Lilith sighed heftily, “Anyway, when I made my escape, I heard him say that he’d be coming after Luz and the portal at twilight tomorrow — something about fulfilling the Titan’s will again.”

“That stubborn gaffer won’t give up, even after all these years, eh?” Eda shook her head with disapproval. She turned to face Luz, who had her hand resting in Amity’s. 

“No doubt that he’ll put your life in danger again, kid — along with everyone you know and love. You and I have seen this side of him before.”

Luz froze at the chilling solemnity of her words. Her hands began to feel clammy and she tightened her grip on Amity’s hand to expel the disgusting, rubbery sensation.

Unless she wanted to plunge everything and everyone into disaster once more, Luz knew she could not stay for long.

She averted her gaze from Eda’s and murmured with downcast eyes, “For everyone’s safety…”

She looked up at the girl seated beside her first — her golden, glacial eyes shimmering painfully back at her own vapid ones — then at everyone on the couch before her. Her next few words were especially hard to utter.

“I’ll go home. Forever. Then, y’all can destroy the portal so Belos can’t use it anymore.”

Luz had not prepared herself enough for this moment — she had never expected it to even happen.

After Belos had been petrified three years ago, Luz could finally continue learning about magic from and with Amity, whom she had slowly built an intimate relationship with. Lilith had taken over Belos’ position as ruler of the Boiling Isles, and witches lived harmoniously with one another.

Everything felt like bliss, but Belos was back to steal this paradise away. And if even the supposedly irreversible petrification spell did not work on him, who knows how he could be stopped this time round?

Luz felt something cold drip onto her hand, and it was only at this instance that she felt the weight of her words sinking in. She turned around and found a pair of glazed eyes, welling with tears, locked in her gaze.

The sight was excruciating.

“A-Are you sure this is the only way?” Amity’s voice was a soft stutter, hitched in her throat.

Luz fell silent. She had always jumped headfirst into things in the past without ever considering their consequences, but now, everything was happening so fast. They swirled into a growing avalanche of emotions now hoisting themselves up her stomach, sending her vision reeling.

“Yes,” Luz finally replied after a moment. She had turned her head away to hide her quivering countenance. “It’s for everyone’s safety, and more importantly — _yours_ , Amity."

The thought of Amity on the verge of crying was already overwhelming. Luz could not bring herself to look at the ruddy complexion she knew would soon spread over her face; the warm, golden eyes; the flowing brown hair she remembered tangled against their pillow.

Amity’s pointed ears drooped dolefully. With a surge of sentimentality, she loosened her grip on her girlfriend’s hands and reached forth, wrapping outstretched arms round Luz.

Amity pulled the human girl close.

“I... I’m going to miss you, Luz.”

She was trying hard not to start bawling in front of the two seniors, as well as King and Owlbert, whom she had suddenly remembered were too close for her own comfort. Though they had looked away in melancholy, Amity still had trouble opening up in front of others.

But that pressure washed away when she felt two arms drawing her in for a tighter embrace.

Of course — there was Luz, one of the few persons she had come to love and trust over the years. There was a sort of security she felt whenever she was around her, and now that she was in her arms, it gave her a sorrowful solace.

“Me too,” Luz’s voice was muffled by her shirt.

Eda and the others were as still as they were silent. Whenever a tear threatened to fall, they caught it before it could show itself.

The air was frigid with rue as the two shared a warm embrace for a moment or two.

“Well,” Luz rubbed a teary eye when she finally pulled away. “I have to tell Willow and Gus before it gets late,” she managed a smile at the thought of all the memories she had with them. “Wanna come?”

Amity paused for a moment, before she shook her head. “I need some time to think this all through,” she responded.

Luz nodded.

She then turned to address everyone else, “Then I’ll be leaving for a bit. I won’t be long.”

Eda gave a thumbs-up in acknowledgement.

That was her cue. Luz stood up, but a tug on the sleeve of her shirt made her sit back down.

“You might want to give them a call first, Luz,” it was Amity. Luz realised that she was holding her scroll in her free hand. “In case they aren’t home.”

She had a small smile on her face, as if she had already expected Luz to rush off without having properly thought through her actions again. Three years with her had made Amity well-accustomed to her endearing antics.

Luz smiled back sheepishly. Sometimes, she knew her too well.

“Thanks, Ams.”

Amity passed the scroll over.

As Luz began typing in her friends’ numbers, she noticed Eda guiding Lilith further into the house — probably to patch up the latter’s wounds — and found herself retreating into the bedroom that she shared with Luz.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading the first chapter!
> 
> merry hexmas~


	2. On My Mind

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> new chapter on the first day of the new year :)
> 
> enjoy reading ~

Luz stood at the threshold, eyes frantically adjusting to the darkness — the light from the corridor could only reach so far.

She had sped back to the Owl House as fast as her two feet could carry her through the night, hoping that at least Amity would still be awake. But to her dismay, the lights had already been shut off when she arrived, and everyone seemed to have drifted off into slumber.

What had meant to be a brief catch-up with Willow and Gus had turned into a full-blown crying session — the trio had had an impromptu meet-up at Willow’s place, and hours slipped past before Luz realised that it was already nightfall.

Though it had been unintentional, she could not help but feel as though part of her had wanted this to happen.

They had been reminiscing their first Grudgby match together, before a searing pang of guilt took over Luz and she apologised hurriedly, tearing out the door in a flurry.

She did not have a curfew, but Luz did originally reserve some time to talk things through with Amity after meeting up with her friends.

It was her own _girlfriend_ for heaven’s sake, how could she be so careless?

Luz tightened her grip on the strap of her satchel slung across her shoulder, still paralysed at the doorway.

In the quietude of the night, she surveyed the interior of her room — those dull, stone walls decorated with odds and ends collected over the years; the motley stained-glass window overlooking Bonesborough; that beloved poster of Azura hanging over the headboard of the king-sized bed — before her eyes rested on a dainty figure, chest rising and falling with every breath in a deep sleep.

When Luz had nudged the door open earlier, she realised that she had been rooting for the possibility of Amity waiting up for her. Though she was definitely going to be upset that she had not returned sooner, Luz wished that she could at least have kept her company before they hit the hay.

Presently, her eyes roamed the room apprehensively.

Luz noticed a glossy, hardcover book laying splayed open on the bedside table to bookmark Amity’s page. She reached forward, fingers skimming the cover.

In the dark, she could make out two figures clad in flowy white blouses and pointed hats — had Amity been up reading The Good Witch Azura until she fell asleep waiting for her?

Luz’s absence must have had been unbearable for her, and all that time absent-minded Luz had let time slip through her hands like slippery sand, when a few precious hours was all she had left with Amity.

The feeling of guilt assailed her more.

To just get into bed beside Amity did not feel right — Luz could not sleep when the feeling of raw remorse was still smothering her.

Should she wake her up then? — No, it would probably be inconsiderate of Luz to disturb her now, especially when she was the one at fault for being so insensitive and forgetful in the first place.

A horrendous, hollow feeling gnawed at Luz and all she could think about was how she had just squandered her last few hours left in the Demon Realm.

Indubitably, Willow and Gus were her closest friends, but Amity was someone special to her — and staring at her cute, unconscious face was not what Luz had been hoping to do as a means of commemorating their last night together.

With a weary heave of her feet, she was about to go for a shower when an idea surged into her head — she was not sure if it would work, or if Eda would consent to it, but the least she could do was try asking the latter.

In the halcyon night, the only sounds that pierced the silence were her footsteps dashing off towards Eda’s room. They grew louder, before trailing off when she neared the open door at the end of the hallway.

“Eda…” Luz croaked drily, her voice raspy from having stayed silent.

A tuft of brown hair peeked out meekly from behind the door frame and a few seconds of stillness followed.

“Are you awake?”

Luz’s head now emerged fully as she peered pensively into Eda’s den.

Her silhouette was a stark contrast against the backdrop of the warmly lit hallway, where the soft light fell across the hard lines of her thoughtful countenance as her eyes darted around in search of Eda’s signature wild mane of hair.

There was an almost immediate response — a little rustling pricked her ears, a sharp disturbance in the otherwise tranquil silence of the night.

Luz released her supportive grip from the door frame and nervously inched her feet nearer towards the entrance to greet Eda when she awoke.

In the dark, Luz saw a pale hand reveal itself from behind the leafy lattice of criss-cross bark and twigs, before a familiar figure sat up and stretched animatedly, with a rather loud yawn to accompany her abrupt wakening.

Eda reached an arm upwards and scratched her voluminous, tousled head of hair, turning around to face Luz.

In a hoarse voice resulting from sudden wakefulness, she asked, “Whaddya want, kid?”

Truthfully, the coarse sight of Eda in her rumpled pyjamas was endearing, and brought the tense Luz some temporary comfort.

The grave features that had once loomed over her face — the furrowed brows, the deep-seated grooves running across her forehead, the sturdy frown — lost their iron hold on her steely physiognomy, and she smiled wanly.

“I wanted to ask you about something.”

Sitting in contemplative silence, Eda registered a hint of wistfulness in Luz’s restrained voice, and knew at once the purpose behind her unplanned visit.

Her usually gruff voice took on a more gentle tone as she rose up and over her bramble nest. “Alright, Luz,” she gestured out the door. “Let’s go downstairs to talk.” 

They made their way down the corridor — a slow, ruminative perambulation spent in solemn remembrance of the past several years together, ever since Luz’s accidental discovery of the Boiling Isles. Since then, Eda had watched her grow and mature over the years.

Definitely, there had been blotches of tough days tainting her cheery canvas of good times, but till this day, Eda had never seen Luz this lugubrious.

After Belos had been petrified and summer in the human realm ended, she had been shuttling back and forth between the two dimensions to continue her lessons at Hexside. Moreover, since Eda’s curse had inhibited her from performing magic naturally again, Amity had offered to take her under her wing and teach her new spells every now and then.

“Awww, baby’s first crush,” Eda had teased Luz excessively whenever she asked her how spell lessons were going with Amity, relishing the sight of Luz going red every time she mentioned her name.

Luz enjoyed spending time with Amity very much, and to the older and wiser Eda, it was obvious that the feeling was mutual. It had taken some time for one of them to confess their feelings to the other, and the two finally started dating, to her joy.

When it all boiled down to having to suddenly leave and never return, Eda understood how Luz felt.

They stopped for a while outside Luz’s bedroom, where a shaft of light spilt its golden hands into the room through the narrow crevice that separated the door from its frame. It trailed past the parquet flooring and climbed up her bed, where it rested faintly on the sleeping brunette, a flowy blanket draped loosely around her waist.

“Kid, it wasn’t easy to have made that decision, you know?” Eda followed Luz’s gaze into her room. 

“We’re all going to miss you,” she paused, a hint of uneasiness assailing her otherwise steady tone. “Especially her.”

Luz gave a knowing, crestfallen nod towards Eda, lips struggling to curl into another false display of strength. Her trembling smile could not hold for long before she had to turn away again, and Eda felt a little stab in her heart at the sight.

They resumed their walk towards the narrow stairwell at the end of the hallway which led to the ground level.

“So kid, how did things go with Willow and Gus? And what about Amity?” Eda asked, trying to sound more affectionate. She took care not to cross any lines with her usual witty remarks in case Luz did not take them too well, but even that question seemed to accidentally trigger something in her, and she stammered back in response.

“Y-yeah, Amity is doing okay,” she replied briefly in an oddly reticent manner, averting her eyes. It occurred to Luz that Eda had probably gone to bed right after dinner and assumed that she and Amity had talked things through while she was asleep.

“And Willow, Gus and I had a good time bringing up the crazy things we did together,” Luz gave a little sentimental chuckle to ward off any suspicion, but to Eda, all she could see was that she was trying to keep up an ebullient disposition.

They took their seats on the velvet couch upon reaching the living room, where heat from the wax-dripping candles peppered on the shelves was languidly seeping into the homely atmosphere to produce a tangible taste of sombre anxiety mixed with anticipation. 

As tense as it might have been, the duo managed to feel more at ease once they noticed King curled up sweetly beside the low coffee table before them, amidst a dramatic heap of papers haphazardly strewn across the floor.

A pencil clasped in his paw, they watched as it threatened to poke him in his cheek whenever he moved in his sleep.

“Looks like somebody is all tired out,” Eda snickered, glancing at the messy scrawls of multifarious demons King had sketched on the sheets of paper scattered about him.

“Seems like he’s compiling a last-minute list of demons on the Boiling Isles for you to take home as an offering, Luz.”

“Aww, that’s so adorably kind of him,” Luz giggled under her breath softly, lest the innocuously cute King of Demons overheard her remark.

“If only the previous overlord of the Boiling Isles were the same,” her voice trailed off, a somewhat hollowed-out struggle to continue speaking.

Luz paused, trying to formulate the very words that had congealed in her throat. They hung in the air, encased in her own private thought bubble.

Eda felt something amiss and raised an eyebrow.

“Let’s cut to the chase, kid. There was a mutual agreement about this, right?” she sounded more assertive now. 

Defensively, she wrapped a protective arm around Luz’s shoulders and brought her closer towards herself, hunching her back and lowering her line of sight to face Luz squarely in the eyes.

Luz snapped out of her reverie once she registered how close she was to Eda’s strikingly heterochromatic eyes — an everlasting reminder of her depleted natural magical abilities.

“Look, I’m not as powerful as I used to be. We don’t stand a fighting chance against Belos,” her voice was a mix of stern firmness and gentle affection resulting from a past experience’s harrowing trauma.

“And I will _not_ allow you to get hurt again from battling him, you got that?”

Luz was taken aback by the sudden force that had overcome her manner, a blank look seizing her face.

She exhaled calmly, flashing a grateful smile back and placing a hand on hers, “Oh, no no. I wasn’t thinking about that, Eda.”

“Oh… you weren’t?” Eda shrank back and withdrew her arm, slightly embarrassed by the conviction she had mistakenly displayed.

“I was going to ask you if you could send me into Amity’s mind, like how you did with Willow in the past.”

Eda lifted a wagging finger to retort but Luz interrupted, wringing her hands frantically as if to explain her reasons for demanding such an odd request.

She blurted, “I know it sounds weird and dangerous and partially illegal and all, but I really just want to relive our memories together.”

A cheeky grin soon suffused her face.

“Besides, I’ll be leaving this realm forever in a few hours, so Warden Wrath probably won’t be able to apprehend me for _crime_ if he ain’t got the _time_ ,” she gushed in a sing-song lilt, “and Luz is back at it with the _rhyme_!”

Eda saw the burst of winsome determination that she had always innately radiated, and chimed in along with her rhetoric.

“Ahh, disobeying the law just like we did in the old days. Weren’t they just _prime_!” she added, fang sticking out in witty exuberance.

A weight seemed to be lifted from both their chests as the soft light bathed them in a warm radiance.

“Alright, kid. I’ll help you,” Eda continued. “But just so you know, I can only do glyph magic now, and I ain’t that good at it yet, so I can’t guarantee you all the time you need in Amity’s mind.”

“That’s alright, Eda. It won’t take long,” Luz’s voice was brimming with relief and gratitude. 

“The last thing I want is to tamper with her memories, and I won’t look at those that are private,” she paused thoughtfully, more secret words rising up her chest.

“I just want to remember the times we’ve been through... before I leave.”

It was heart-warming to see her usually outgoing disciple display a more tender side.

Eda managed a reassuring smile, “Okay Luz. As long as you act responsibly, I don’t have any reason to stop you.”

She paused, before adding an afterthought — “Unless Amity has something to say about it when she finds you entered her mind without her knowledge.”

“No worries, Eda!” Luz responded without hesitation, a hasty smile plastered on her face to convey a look of sincerity. “I- I got her permission just now,” she continued shakily.

Eda raised a brow in suspicion, but Luz dispelled it quickly by effusing graciously, “Thank you for this, Eda!”

Luz’s bright elation overpowered her doubts, and the senior smiled warmly.

“Dang, you are such a criminally good witch,” she lifted a hand to pat Luz’s head. “I really taught you well.”

The two share a moment of mutual understanding, a brief but indelible bonding experience between teacher and disciple.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> behold Luz and Amity, the two queens in a king sized bed...
> 
> stay tuned for their backstory :) (though it's going to take a number of chapters before we get there)


	3. Labyrinth Library

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello! here's this week's chapter :)

The light from the hallway streamed in generously through the open bedroom door, tenderly gilding Amity’s unstirred face.

Head propped up comfortably on a pillow, her brown hair made a highly eager escape out their usual confinement of a neat half ponytail, reaching her shoulders in an awkward yet endearing tangle of chestnut and hazel. Her matted eyelids remained delicately shut even in the light flooding into the room — a finishing touch to the image of the beautiful marble effigy who lay in her ethereal haven.

Removing her grip from the door knob, Luz cautiously tip-toed to the bed front and placed her satchel onto the ground gently, careful not to wake Amity up.

On the contrary, Eda shuffled in from behind, trying to stifle another uproar of a yawn. She was starting to get a little worn out from keeping awake.

“I don’t know how you manage to stay awake at this time kid,” her voice was muffled behind her hand. “I mean — just look at your girlfriend,” Eda rubbed her eyes in a desperate attempt to swipe the looming force of fatigue away.

“She’s sound asleep — even in all this light!”

Luz, who gazed lovingly at Amity so comfortably snug and nestled in her blanket, could not hold back an affectionate smile.

She turned round to face Eda, and exclaimed in a hushed tone with soft but thrilled elocution, “Then _whoosh_ me in, Eda, before she wakes up!”

Luz’s animated stance was full of nervous exhilaration, fists clenched in eager anticipation as she reached into her pocket and produced a stack of sticky notes and a pencil. She always kept them on her in case she needed to cast any spells.

“Very well then, let’s get you in there and I can —” Eda stopped abruptly to suppress a tremendous yawn, “go back to sleep.”

Eyelids drooping with lethargy, Eda propped the notes Luz had passed over firmly in her hand, and began drawing a glyph on the first page with the pencil. She then tapped it with a finger, and a radiant circle glowed to life beneath Luz’s feet. An accompanying handbell materialised mid-air, tinkling as it dropped into Luz’s open palms.

“You know the drill kiddo — ring that once you're ready to come back out,” Eda pointed at the handbell. She heard a hurried affirmation from Luz in response, a mix of agitated breathing and bated breath.

With that, Eda raised both arms, and a shimmering pillar of light rose up to envelop Luz. It grew in intensity before bursting into kaleidoscopic orbs, a million lustrous photons dancing on the plane of enchantment.

Eda then directed her arms towards where Amity slept, and the coruscating light carried Luz into her mind, where she was eager for fantasy to override her bleak reality — a sacred retreat into the past from her future.

The curtain of light holding Luz drew itself apart, revealing her slightly quaking figure that shivered from both excitement and uncertainty alike. 

Darting eyes took in her surroundings, which resembled a scholar’s treasure trove, glorious and grandiose. Along the circumference of where she stood, formidable fortresses of sturdy shelves spun into a complex network, reaching into the vast and limitless arctic sky.

The dumbfounded girl realised she had landed in the heart of the dense thicket of spiralling shelves, a pristine clearing where an opalescent fountain reflected speckles of light in its limpid waters that streamed down from the top.

The magnolious sight took Luz’s breath away. Was this how Amity’s mindscape looked like?

Amidst the grand backdrop, there was a smudge of black and amethyst behind one of the fountain’s streams — Luz angled her head a little more, and there she was! A flash of brown hair flickered amidst the clear, running water, adding to Luz’s confirmation.

Inner Amity stood before a looming shelf, unmoving as she stared downwards at the open book she grasped in both hands, motionless except for the faint blinking of her blank eyes.

“Maybe she can tell me where her memories of us are!” Luz beamed widely, pleased to see someone familiar.

“Amity!” she exclaimed, walking forward with a jovial smile on her face.

However, her joy was noticeably unreciprocated.

Inner Amity seemed to flinch sharply upon hearing her name, now jolted out of her blank trance. With a quick, timid glance over in Luz’s direction, she snapped her book shut and sank back hurriedly into the depths of the nebulous library.

In the spur of the moment, Luz instinctively placed the handbell onto the tessellated ground, ready to give chase. Confused and worried, her feet involuntarily sprang into action as she bolted down the narrow walkway between the seamless shelves, crying out after her, “Hey, wait up!”

Hot on her heels, Luz pursued the shadow of her timorousness. But Amity was one step ahead, just out of her grasp. She swerved violently into a corner and vanished into the intricate labyrinth, leaving Luz behind where she had lost sight of her.

Slowing down, Luz found herself standing alone at a junction, catching her breath. The multiple crossroads around her only led to more commonplace shelves, and they colluded secretly to foil her plan.

There was no trace of Amity, so Luz could only resort to choosing one to take at random.

Each one sprawled out like a vital vein in an amorphous, breathing body, and Luz gingerly wandered deeper into its enigmatic nervous system.

“Where could she have gone?” a perplexed look gripped her, as she trudged down the interminable corridor of books. “And it doesn’t help that this library _never_ ends! Where am I supposed to find her memories of me?”

Luz shook her head, pouted glumly towards the packed shelf brimming with books beside her, and halfheartedly tore one out from it.

In her hands, the book looked a little unprepossessing, but that was what lifted the disappointed, sullen glaze from her eyes.

She had not been expecting much, but the cover that stared back at her was one of promising intensity — a playfully artful sketch of Luz and Amity each in what seemed like matching Azura outfits.

“Oooooh,” Luz’s features curled into a flattered smirk. “Don’t _mind_ if I do!”

She opened the book and thumbed to the first page, perusing its contents.

It was just as she had expected.

Her eyes brushed past the overview of the chapters, all of them denoting different memories Amity had shared with her, some of which involuntarily rose into recall.

A slight blush assaulted Luz’s cheeks.

“ _Dios mío_! What are the chances of finding this just sitting here!” she gasped, relief overshadowing her initial befuddled anxiety at the sight of finding what she came searching for.

“Don’t worry Ams,” she chuckled jocosely yet affectionately as she flipped to the first page. “I’m totally _not_ going to tease you about this.”

There, above the fine print, a blurry, holographic figure of Luz floated, besmirched in dark dollops of dirty purple, seated uncomfortably in a cauldron half-full with the same splotchy and oozy mix of mass and liquid. The round ceramic lid was ajar, allowing her to catch snippets of conversation between Willow and Gus.

“Oh, I remember this!” Luz snickered playfully as she recalled her first day at Hexside, when she did not know any better about being a witch.

But before she could conjure the events of that momentous day in detail, her surroundings faded out in a swift swirl and she subsequently found herself standing in the Hexside cafeteria, facing watery illusions of Willow, Gus and herself at a table, having a rather confidential conversation during break time.

Luz watched on with nostalgic rapture as Amity’s memory resumed playing before her, now in greater minutiae from the privilege of proximity they presented.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hmm, what do you think Amity's mindscape would look like?


	4. Enmity's Plight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello once again, i am back with a new chapter! :D a bit lengthier this time, but i hope you like it.
> 
> note: paragraphs in italics represent Amity's thoughts from the past.

The first time Luz and Amity met was also the first time everything between them went downhill, caught in the crossfire of hatred and fear from a once close-knit friendship the latter had shared with Willow.

Watching as Amity’s memory unfolded into clarity before her eyes, Luz remembered the cold glares and the embittered cries from that day, when their first impressions of each other had tottered precariously on a shaky, volatile foundation of tension.

But as the scene around her began to twist and warp, Luz felt as though there had been a different side to Amity’s initial animosity — an untold reason she kept hidden and repressed.

And she was only beginning to speak about it now.

On cue, an auditory rendition of Amity’s thoughts resonated richly in the background, marking the start of her memory.

_Something is up with that Half-a-Witch._

Presently, a watery imitation of Amity materialised, storming down the corridor towards the cafeteria. Stray strands of dark jade hair fell askew across her forehead, where deep creases scourged along. 

_There’s no way she could have made that abomination in time for class, and there’s no way I’m going to let her off so easily._

Amity’s frown twisted into a furious scowl. She had spent all week perfecting her abomination, yet it had devastatingly paled in comparison to the one that Willow had dubiously cooked up in a matter of minutes.

“Ugh, that _witch_! I’m supposed to be better than her!” she grunted under her breath.

Fuming, Amity reached the cafeteria.

All that frustration had fuelled her hunger, and she immediately walked over to join the lunch queue. But as soon as she was about to get into line for food, an annoyingly familiar mop of slate blue hair in her peripheral vision caused her to shift her sight towards that direction — a reflexive attack born out of mistrustful suspicion.

She squinted hatefully.

At the far-end of the table, Willow sat opposite Augustus, a trace of sheepish guilt on her face as she chatted with him in hushed tones.

Just what were they colluding about? Even Willow’s _stellar_ abomination seemed to join in their secret conspiratory meeting, its dark goopy arms resting on the edge of its cauldron.

Antagonistic Amity was offended by this scene, but other than the fact that Top Student Willow was basking in all that new-found glory she had just attained, she concluded that nothing seemed amiss — there were no leads for now.

Disgruntled, Amity was about to turn away with another look of scornful disdain, until Augustus reached into his paper lunch bag and pulled out a sandwich.

It was such a blatantly indiscreet move that would have raised the alarm in the cafeteria, yet it was executed just at the right time for all pairs of eyes to be turned away — all but one.

_I KNEW IT! That abomination is a fraud, it clearly took a bite of Augustus’ sandwich!_

A livid rush of venomous adrenaline surged through Amity and she took off in their direction.

“I SAW THAT!” a resounding war-cry reverberated around the cafeteria, accompanied by a thunderous thud. Amity had physically flown off the handle, flinging herself onto her nemesis’ table in a fit of flaring fury.

“Abominations don’t eat!” she bellowed belligerently, shooting an accusatory glare right into Willow’s eyes. 

Even from the protection her cauldron had provided her, Luz could remember sensing the abundant, murderous aura Amity exuded. Her ceramic shield seemed to falter under the weight pressing down on her cauldron — the enemy was advancing, hands fiercely clenching the rim.

_SHOW YOURSELF!_

An intense golden glare pierced through the damp darkness of Luz’s barricade as Amity leaned over the edge, catching her red — no, _purple_ handed — in the act of consuming her much needed peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

Her eyes studied Luz intently.

_What’s a student from Glandus High doing here?_

Amity leaned in further, holding her gaze.

_Hang on, something’s not right..._

Her eyes narrowed as she squinted hard, catching sight of Luz’s ears.

_Round ears?!_

As if her dynamic entrance had not been frightening enough, propinquity armed Amity’s charged tone with a sharp, chilling bite, sending a quiver down Luz’s spine even as she watched the confrontation play out in front of her.

“I know you’re in there! You can’t hide from me!” Amity screeched into the cauldron. “What are you? Who are you? I WANT ANSWERS!”

Naturally, her explosive fusillade ignited a commotion uncalled for.

Around her, students enjoying their lunch break paused mid-munch, aiming judgmental stares at her for disrupting their peaceful meal. Overwhelmed by jealous ire however, Amity took no notice.

Her anger fulminated as she reached into the cauldron, grasping Luz by the neckline of her hoodie and yanking her out roughly. However, she remained unresponsive, a blank, impervious expression carved into her face.

_**You** sabotaged my perfect record —_

At that moment, a stentorian voice thundered, drowning Amity’s verbatim thoughts out.

“AMITY BLIGHT!” 

As if a restraining spell had been cast on her, Luz’s assailant ceased gunfire and recoiled timidly, like she was caught committing a heinous crime.

“Huh?” Amity cowered back in fear, trembling more than her victim had had from trying to evade her sudden, forceful incursion.

Her eyes widened in fright as her professor emerged from one of the multiple corridors leading to the cafeteria, aided by his abomination.

“I suspected a twinge of jealousy, but this —” he gestured toward her incredulously, “this is just sad.”

Amity slackened her grip on Luz, a look of helpless trepidation washing over her face.

_But Sir, I was just —_

The disapproval that had varnished his tone was a slew of arrows through her pride as the rightful top student, and the criticism she now registered was foreign to her, as was the accompanying stinging feeling of panic and hurt.

Amity looked lost.

Her pointed ears shot up in equal protest as she tried to explain herself frantically, “But I — No!” 

She recollected herself quickly, “Look at it!”

_Witches don’t have round ears, let alone abominations! Don’t you see?_

The abomination, however, remained flagrantly insentient and unreactive, rendering Amity’s argument blatantly unconvincing.

She grimaced, knowing that she had already lost this battle.

“Report to Principal Bump’s office,” her professor answered flatly, jabbing a pointed finger towards the cafeteria’s exit.

“But —” Amity continued defiantly, shocked at his curt indifference.

_Why aren’t you siding with me like you’ve always done?_

“NOW!” he roared, slamming an irate fist down onto the abomination that supported him.

Full of aggrievance, Amity had no choice but to release Luz from her grasp. She slipped down the table in wrathful indignation in one fluid motion, before dashing out of the cafeteria in vexation.

*******

The long hallway that soon filled Amity's vision granted her safety from the humiliation of being openly castigated, and she slowed down.

Amity had run out in blind anger, not knowing how to withstand the mounting mortification that had piled up against her in that suffocating room. Even now, she could not see too well — her surroundings were scattering and blurring into nothing.

She had been holding back tears from when she had been rebuked, and they were only trickling down from lacquered eyes in this moment when she was well hidden from everyone else.

_This isn’t fair! Willow cheated, so why am I getting all the blame?_

She scowled again, not in contempt for Willow but in irritation for herself.

_I’d practised my spells all week for that assignment, and she just waltzes in and steals my badge — my hard-earned badge!_

Lead shackles seemed to encase her ankles, and she trudged forward slowly, reluctantly.

_What are Mother and Father going to say about this?_

Amity passed by a trophy case positioned proudly in the walkway, where numerous ornate trophies stood on display behind the glass for all to see. She had won several of them from past magic competitions — tangible symbols of her magical prowess.

A few prolonged moments of staring at them caused Amity’s eyes to involuntarily focus on her own reflection in the glass — her scarlet face streaked with a running rivulet down her cheek; her eyes where hot tears and cold anger crossed each other.

Despite having blurred vision, she was clear about one thing — Willow did not deserve that badge as much as she did.

Amity wiped her tears away with her sleeve.

“I know what I need to do,” she took a deep breath and turned towards the hallway leading to the principal’s office.

Her figure faded into the stretch of the hallway, and it was promptly replaced by the interior of Willow’s classroom.

*******

Amity was now pushing the door open with a snide smirk, stepping aside assuredly for the tall figure behind her to make his way in. She exchanged a brief but cold glance with Willow, whose horrified face was drained of all colour.

_Someone wants to have a look at your abomination, Superstar._

Principal Bump entered, and was soon inspecting Willow’s abomination, giving it certain commands to see how it would react.

How favourably odd it was for Amity when it got one of them wrong!

She folded her arms in celebratory victory, smug confidence spreading over her face as the abomination started babbling nonsensically with fluent rapidity.

“Oh no, abomination,” Principal Bump chuckled, amused and intrigued at the same time. “I mean ‘ _lie_ down’,” he pointed towards a long table nearby, before placing a pallid hand on Willow’s shoulder to coax her to join him over at where a recumbent Luz lay paralysed with consternation on the hard wood.

Amity could have sworn she saw a look of conscious terror cross the abomination’s face when Principal Bump calmly produced a short, jagged blade from beneath his flowy cloak and handed it to Willow.

But she was more acutely aware of the distress that had seized Willow, who smiled sheepishly as she accepted the dagger, face pale with dread.

“Willow, go ahead and make the first incision,” Principal Bump encouraged patiently. Perhaps he understood the hesitant pain that came with destroying one’s own hard work.

Before Amity could relish the tension, Augustus’ voice rang out abruptly, “Wait, Principal Bump!”

All eyes fell on him, waiting for him to continue.

“Uh…” he stuttered, before blurting out some gibberish — “High five!” — and slapping his palm into a cauldron that he happened to be standing by. It tipped over and knocked into several others, all spilling abomination goo.

_A distraction! I knew they were hiding something!_

A wall of abominations took shape from their pool of sticky slime, groaning as they advanced towards Principal Bump, towering over his tall stature.

“Run!” Augustus yelled, thrusting a finger towards the open door.

Amity snapped out of her daze and whirled around, only to see a smear of purple grime and sleeves dashing out the door in fleeting escape.

Luz’s surroundings changed without warning again, now presenting Hexside under trepid lockdown, its high walls embossed with glowing crimson glyphs under the effect of the principal’s sealing spell.

She and Willow had ducked behind a pillar in temporary refuge, hiding from Principal Bump’s abominations. The moaning creatures had begun laying siege, encircling the rotunda hall and enclosing them in.

From where she was, Amity had been watching their segregated silhouettes move behind the banisters, but she was unable to make out what they were doing. However, a few seconds was all it took for her to find out.

A glaring flash of green caught her by surprise, before broad columns of vines burst into vigour — scaling the walls, spilling onto the ceiling, and running berserk through the corridor.

Needless to say, the multiple abominations on Luz’s and Willow’s heels were impaled by the surging green, ineffective against holding the vines back from continuing their path of havoc. Unaffected, they slithered into every nook and cranny, spinning themselves into an intricate web. 

Under the dappled sunlight streaming in, Hexside had been transformed into a beautiful garden, where petals in bloom danced in their own graceful ballet rhythm — a secret exploration into previously uncharted lands.

Amity was shocked, but she was not one to appreciate this enchanting sight.

_Plant Magic?! Is this Willow’s doing? Has she become stronger than me?_

Amity bared her fangs in acrimony, but she caught herself and snapped back into gear, quickly resuming her pursuit. But to her dismay, more vines burst forth from around the bend and slammed into her, pinning her to the wall in a constricting thorny tangle.

It was likely that Principal Bump had shared the same fate as her, because soon, the web of incarnadine glyphs adorning the walls disappeared promptly, taking the glossy barriers blocking the walkways down with it.

_They’re getting away again! Ugh, let go of me, you stupid plant!_

Amity writhed and thrashed wildly before she managed to twirl her finger on the wall behind her. A gleaming circle activated a spell that severed the vines that held her and she landed steadily, adrenaline coursing through her once again as she tried to locate the two impish runaways, her senses thrown into full blast.

“There’s the exit!” an unfamiliar voice yelled. 

_Must be that impostor!_

Amity got to her feet immediately and dashed towards the source. They were close by — she could almost smell their anxious relief.

Picking up the pace, she caught up with Willow and Luz, who were making a frenzied beeline towards the front doors, both panting heavily.

Among the mess of interweaving vines, a pair of boots planted themselves on the ground before them. Glowering eyes added resentment to Amity’s growl, “NOT SO FAST!”

Her surly voice made Luz and Willow freeze in their footsteps, “I’m not letting you get away so easily.”

Even through frightened eyes, the duo could see that Amity sported a thoroughly disheveled look — her tunic was crumpled at the edges, and her hair was an unkempt mess. Adding to her agitation, a remnant of a severed vine was slung offensively over her shoulder.

Wrenching and tossing it onto the ground with utmost ferocity, she hollered in a thunderous staccato rhythm, “I. WANT. MY. BADGE!”

Savagely, Amity then gave one last war-cry, a signal of an all-out attack — “ABOMINATIONS, SEIZE!”

Her vexed cry echoed about the rotunda, before trailing off as a blanket of black began to enshroud Luz’s surroundings, as if Amity had repressed the rest of that spiteful memory.

*******

The liquid illusions that once strolled and zipped around Luz vaporised, leaving her in the dark for a few seconds to ponder on what she had just witnessed.

Luz sighed a little. It was true — she and Amity did not start out with the best first impressions of each other. There was that truth in the past, laying dormant in her memory, but the future from then on had given her a new light in Luz’s eyes. It was just not yet perceivable in this snippet of Amity’s memory.

In that instant, something murky seemed to come into focus, an immaculate mirage spinning into the thin air.

Before long, Luz found herself in Amity’s bedroom.

It was dark, with what little moonlight drifting in through the window above her bed. It had a lurid luminance to it, and the unlit LED cosmos that hung above her played their liquid shadows on the walls.

“Join the Emperor’s Coven today!” a poster hanging by her bedside urged hurriedly, bearing a portrait of its leader wielding a grand sword and striking a pose of similar grandeur, aquamarine eyes staring where Amity laid on her bed.

Normally, she would have returned the look with an air of ambition and determination, but now, she could not even initiate it.

Her usual domineering stance was replaced by a regretful — remorseful even — position in which she had her head buried in quaking hands that rested on her knees. Not too far from her, her top-student badge was cast aside rather dismissively, like a broken toy that had lost all its initial splendour.

The facade of the tranquil night crumbled when Luz heard a barrage of conflicting feelings waging an onslaught of emotions within Amity.

_I got my badge back, but at what cost? I think I went too far._

This was the crease of time, the sag of an hour, where listless ennui brought about solitary reflection. All that remained was a horrid realisation.

_I hurt Willow again._

This was the painful plight that harbouring enmity brought — Amity’s blight.

A sickly damp feeling entered her realm of touch for the second time that day, and a pesky nasal blockade threatened to suffocate her. Amity lifted her head up from her palms to clear the block, swiping a silent tear away in the process.

Outside, a patter of footsteps up the stairs, along with a deep voice, alerted her about impending danger.

Amity swooped up her gold badge and placed it swiftly on the books stacked up on her tiny bedside table, made smaller by the sheer density of the books permeating every corner of her room. After securing a comfortable sleeping position facing away from the door, she pulled her blanket up to her chest — a highly rehearsed motion often practised that was not for the purpose of sleep.

Amity’s parents routinely checked up on her, and she knew better than to show any sliver of weakness in front of them.

She synced her breathing in time with their footsteps, such that she could prepare to hold her breath once they came in, lest her strained breathing gave her pretence away.

The thudding came closer, and she heard the knob twist. 

There came the familiar shaft of light, an orange glow that streaked onto her wall like clockwork.

Amity held her breath.

“Our top student is asleep by bedtime as usual, ready for the next day of school,” she heard her father speak.

“I heard the Principal was impressed with her work recently, and I have no qualms that he will recommend her to the Emperor’s Coven,” that was her mother. “She’ll grow up to be a powerful witch, and honour our name.”

The edge of Amity’s badge glinted in the warm light, before its shine dissipated once the door was closed.

All around Luz and Amity was darkness. 

Speechless, Luz could only watch the shadowy figure toss and turn on her bed in a futile attempt to will herself to sleep.

Luz had known about Amity’s yearning to be in the prestigious Emperor’s Coven since she was younger, but she had no idea how important it had been to her, nor knew about her parents’ stern enforcements about it — Amity tended to keep her life at home private, and often refrained from bringing the subject up, even after all the years they had spent together.

But before Luz could contemplate any longer, her surroundings began to transform again, reshaping themselves like a chunk of pliable clay.

A different memory was next in line.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> apologies for the late update today, school has been taking up a lot of my time ;-;


	5. An Un-covention-al Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi all, sorry i am immensely late for today's update, please forgive me for school has been insufferable. i might have to take a short break from writing to keep up with my work, but i'll be back on track with this fic as soon as i can!
> 
> for now, here's this week's chapter! :)

Luz had been here some time ago.

Though she was no stranger to the breathtaking interior of this edifice, she could not help but continually twirl around in awe again, eyes hovering on her surroundings in a bid to absorb every extravagant detail.

Luz remembered those exorbitant rococo walls, where the pale moonlight shone and shivered through the stained glass. Far from its soft touch, the high ceiling held a luxurious chandelier in its ornate embrace, hung above the diaphanous stone floor glowing with polish.

It was evident that this was the Blight Manor.

“Amity,” a bright voice jolted Luz out from her reverie. She turned her head towards the source of the voice and noticed a marble table situated in the centre of the room, where a party of five sat indulging in their supper.

Luz froze involuntarily — she had promised Eda that she would not meddle around with Amity’s private memories! Once had been enough, and even though it had been unintentional, she could not excuse the fact that she had just witnessed a shocking unfolding of events in Amity’s bedroom moments ago.

Luz shut the diary in her hands to stop the memory from proceeding.

Nothing happened, just the two figures on the cover teasing her snidely.

Panicking, Luz felt her pockets for the handbell, but a look of frantic realisation crossed her face a second later.

She had carelessly abandoned it on the ground when she gave chase to Amity earlier!

Flustered, Luz was at a loss, but at that moment the voice resumed, gripping her attention once again.

“Principal Bump called last night and gave us some promising news,” Mrs Blight continued, graciously dabbing the corner of her mouth with a napkin after finishing her meal.

Perhaps she had been hoping for her daughter to react with keenness, but even the air did not register a stir of enthusiasm. To Mrs Blight’s left, a morose Amity did not budge in her seat, still munching nonchalantly on a potato she had pricked up from her plate with a fork.

_Oh, spare me the details._

Had Principal Bump called again to pacify her nosy parents with the excellent grade she had gotten on that test yesterday? Or was it to placate them that their precocious daughter had emerged victorious in yet another magic competition?

Either ways, Amity could not be bothered. She had had enough of her parents barging into her school life, endlessly finding ways to compare her to her older siblings’ outstanding magical achievements.

“He is considering hand-picking you to join the Emperor’s Coven, and looks forward to introducing you to a high-flying member before the annual Covention starts tomorrow,” Mr Blight, seated beside his wife, chimed in with glee.

Amity kept her downturned eyes on her potato salad, still munching away albeit with a little more intrigue, but she knew better than to let it show. Her parents had already demanded this of her since she was young, after all. She needed to act like she was not surprised.

Mr Blight took a quick swig of water from his glass. “He wants to see you at the town hall tomorrow at nine o’clock sharp in the morning, dear. Isn’t that exciting?” his eyes brimmed with a brightness untraceable in that of his wife’s.

“And what’s even better is that one of our old Hexside friends will be mentoring you from then on — Lily Clawthorne!” he raised his arms heartily, but this amicable gesture did not seem to please Odalia as much as he had hoped.

“That would be _Miss Lilith_ Clawthorne to you, Amity,” she corrected peevishly, eyes glaring at Alador as he mirthfully waved his error off. “And as your mentor, she will be preparing you for your recruitment into the Emperor’s Coven,” she continued firmly.

Amity had read about that name on her scroll so many times it was foolish to not recognise it now. Instantaneously, her potato coagulated into a stiff chunk halfway down her throat, causing her to jolt up with a violent choking gasp.

_Miss Clawthorne? Leader? Of my dream coven? Mentoring me?!_

She reached out a swift hand, snatching up her water glass and downing the drink to stifle her steady cough along with her growing sensation of thrilled joy.

As much as she was enthralled by the news, Amity had to control herself from showing too much ecstasy at her accomplishments in front of her parents — or her mother, at least. Mrs Blight tended to translate such happiness into complacency and over-indulgent satisfaction, and would often tell Amity off for being contented with her achievements.

Adding to Amity’s uproar was a sudden clang. Beside her, Edric had dropped his knife onto his plate with abrupt alacrity to give his sister a mischievous thumbs up. Smirking teasingly, he remarked, “Good going, Mittens!”

When all he got in response was a series of uncontrollable coughing, he snickered back, “— I mean your getting recommended into the Emperor’s Coven, not your coughing fit.”

Edric only grinned wider when an incandescent Amity glared back in between a flurry of breathless, choking noises.

With much struggle, she managed to angle her glass into her mouth and downed every last drop of water, her coughs easing into little hiccups. Mr Blight grabbed the pitcher from the table and refilled her cup, the timbre of the water lilting higher as more flowed in.

“Edric, table manners,” Mrs Blight warned strictly. He muttered a quick apology, picking up his knife and placing it down again, quietly this time.

Now, it was Emira’s turn to sniggle at her twin’s retribution. “Karma got you again, Edric?” she taunted, before earning one of his purposefully jejune scowls.

As if to restore order in the chaos, Mrs Blight raised her voice slightly over the bedlam.

“Edric, Emira, that’s enough. You’ve both had your share of successes, and it’s now time to remind Amity not to botch up hers,” she stabbed her fork into a carrot.

Catching Amity’s wavering gaze, Mrs Blight continued as bleakly as before, “Amity, don’t forget you haven’t been officially accepted into the Emperor’s Coven yet. Keep working hard, or you might get your recommendation revoked.”

Though she kept it hidden, Amity’s initial thrill shrank down to something that felt like a cruel mix of injustice and angry dejection, plunging the point of its venomous blade into her.

_Working hard, my foot! Ed and Em are always cutting class with their illusion spells, yet you still let them off, because they’re oh so ‘perfect’ in your eyes._

Amity fumed inwardly. A naturally gifted killjoy, her mother had a special way with making her feel worthless.

“Yes, Mother,” she finally uttered, unable to retort lest she got a harsh chiding.

The Blight’s grandiose dining room then disappeared and an amphitheatre materialised before Luz.

*******

A pellucid Amity, dressed in a fresh-looking tunic and cowl, took shape on the stage fronting the complex. Before her stood two figures — Principal Bump and a lady with flowing navy hair who was sophisticatedly cloaked in pristine white.

_The face from my poster — Miss Lilith Clawthorne — in the flesh!_

A growing beam began to suffuse Amity’s cheery features, complimenting her flushed cheeks.

_Oh, how many times I’ve seen her name on the coven website!_

Lilith smiled back at Amity, whose delight was just like a fizzy tonic fuelling her elation as she tried to stop herself from jumping up and down on the spot in bursting exhilaration.

_This is the best day of my life!_

The bright-eyed witch watched as Lilith then said something to Principal Bump, who nodded in understanding and proceeded to leave the venue.

“There’s still a few hours left before the Covention commences,” Lilith began. “Shall we begin your mentorship with a few spells?” she asked an excited Amity, who nodded her head vigorously in response. 

She was born ready for this — and for once, her parents were not there to rain on her parade.

Needless to say, Lilith was quickly impressed by Amity’s proficiency. After assessing the sturdy abominations she could summon, as well as the variety of spells she could cast, Lilith remarked that she was glad to be mentoring such a bright student.

Deeply focused on casting her spells, however, Amity was a little shaken when she felt a palm descending gently onto her head. She whipped her head around, only to see a proud and sunny Lilith beaming back at her.

She proceeded to ruffle Amity’s hair endearingly, “You must have worked really hard to get here today. I’m so happy for you.”

Caught off guard by such earnest words, Amity remained speechless, not knowing how to react.

_If only my parents could say the same to me._

The entire amphitheatre darkened along with the tone of her thoughts.

*******

Subsequently, a spotlight glowed into life amidst the dimly lit compound, illuminating Principal Bump on stage, standing before an awestruck crowd.

It had not been long since the Covention commenced when a snaking line formed outside the panel for the Emperor’s Coven, and he had to usher in the impatient crowd and introduce them to the revered group of witches.

Now, three figures clad in resplendent uniform were rising from beneath the ground amidst a swirl of blue, their mysterious faces hidden behind signature masks.

“They are none other than the jewel of the coven system and the enforcers of His will — the Emperor’s Coven!” boomed Principal Bump’s enthralled voice, amplified by his microphone.

Seated at the spectators’ stand, Amity felt a pulse of ambition rush through her as she heard those words. Say them to her anyday, and they would still work their magic.

That seemed the case for the general public too. Electricity began to coruscate through the air at the mention of the esteemed coven, igniting the atmosphere with sparks of suspense amidst wild cheers.

The crowd observed with rapture as the three figures raised their arms in a satisfyingly synchronised style, drawing glowing aureoles in the air in preparation to showcase elaborate tricks.

_Imagine having all that knowledge and skill!_

Amity’s eyes sparkled, wholly captivated by the fascinating display of deft magic. She observed the coven members’ every movement with a quiet intensity, trying to uncover the secrets behind such adroitness.

It was then when she locked eyes with Principal Bump’s, who seemed to have done it deliberately when his eyes swept through the crowd in search of her.

“Only the best can ascend these ranks. Some day that could be one of you!” he pointed towards her.

She let out an exalted squeal, heart swelling at the thought that her principal had indirectly commended her so openly.

Then, the air went still as the three masked figures vanished with a fluid sweep of their flowing capes.

With the spotlight ever so bright on him, Principal Bump lowered his voice for a more suspenseful effect, “And now, I’m pleased to introduce the esteemed leader of this coven and this year’s mystery guest.”

Amity stopped breathing momentarily. She had been waiting for this moment with bated breath ever since she had discovered that _she_ was going to attend the Covention on the website weeks ago.

“— Lilith!”

A second was all it took for everyone’s eyes to zip from Principal Bump to the enormous, ghostly crow that had materialised in mid-air suddenly.

Perched on a glowing branch of the same arctic blue hue as its pavonine plumage, it flapped its great wings before swooping downwards.

The crowd shared a unified gasp of surprise when it landed, releasing a shockwave of bluish luminance that inundated the dingy amphitheatre.

After the frosty glare weakened, a confident Lilith emerged in place of the glassy iridescence of the spectral crow, relishing her own extravagant entrance against an alluring backdrop of beautifully swaying lustrous orbs of crystalline light.

_What elegant mastery of magic!_

The crowd erupted into a clamorous applause when Lilith removed her mask and cloak — but all Amity could hear was the rapid thumping of her heart against her rib cage.

She was teetering on the edge of her seat, trembling with excitement, unable to tear her eyes away from her mentor.

_Someday, I’ll be just as powerful and capable as her._

Even when the crowd was leaving the amphitheatre after Lilith had finished her speech, the rapture brimming in Amity’s eyes did not. Adrenaline was still racing through her from the thought of being Lilith’s protege, and her heart retained the warmth from the verbal laurel she had received from Principal Bump.

Amity grabbed a convenient brochure on her way out, and was now studying the layout of the booths printed at the back. Her face was scrunched up in deep focus as she navigated the main hall.

Maybe it had not been such a wise idea to be standing immbile at the exit of the amphitheatre, especially when everyone was pouring out. Their excited chattering was a cacophonous ringing in Amity’s ears, and they impeded her concentration.

Not having the best control over her facial muscles, she frowned a little.

Not having the best control over her short temper, she started to get irritated.

Not having the best control over her explosive anger, she let it fester.

It was the last straw when she felt someone collide with her back, breaking her train of thoughts. To make matters worse, the sudden jolt made her brochure slip out of her grasp.

Instinctively livid, she spun around with a seething air of roiling frustration. “Watch where you’re —” Her eyes met Luz’s, where a split second was all it took for the initial anger in her eyes to turn to unexpected shock, then flicker back to anger again.

“Oh. It’s _you_ ,” her expression darkened as she managed a contemptuous sneer, visibly unimpressed by the human standing before her. 

“Willow’s… abomination thing.”

_You’re in my way, move it._

When the troublemaker just remained there staring back at her with a strange look of hopeful optimism, Amity started frowning, heeled boot anchored to the ground firmly with one arm akimbo.

Now, Luz seemed afraid.

“Uh… Hey, Amity,” she fumbled with her words, lifting a nervous hand up to wave.

What a waste of her time — Amity could have already made her way to the booth allocated to the Emperor’s Coven by now.

“So, funny story. Not an abomination. Sorry for the confusion last week,” Luz offered a haphazard, half-hearted apology uttered with unease.

_Well, apparently one week isn’t enough for you to realise what not to do._

“I- I’m Luz. The human. Hi!” she eased up a little and offered an outstretched hand.

_Do I look like I care who you are?_

Amity stared down at her open palm with derision. Was this some kind of odd ritual humans practised when meeting new people? But whatever — she did not want to share any of that experience, not with _her_.

“Ugh, put that away!” Amity answered with aversion, brusquely slapping Luz’s palm with the back of her hand in blithe condescension. It then balled into a fist and pointed an accusatory finger at Luz, who inched away apprehensively.

“You're the one that got me in trouble with Principal Bump — ” she turned away in disdain mid-speech, as if she could not deign to waste her breath on Luz. “ — and I _never_ get in trouble.”

She started stalking off.

It had not been long before she heard footsteps trailing hers, accompanied by an irksome quip, “Well, to be fair, you were okay with him trying to dissect me, so —”

_The audacity she must have to talk back to me!_

In retaliative defence, Amity spun around again and spat sharply in Luz’s direction, “You can't be here! This Covention is for witches only.”

It did not occur to Amity, just then, how much more persistent Luz could get.

“Well, I'm learning how to be a witch,” came her response, accompanied by oddly bright eyes and an oddly earnest conviction. “I'm receiving magic lessons from a powerful witch and a ferocious demon.”

Amity kept silent, unflinching and unbothered.

_A human learning how to be a witch? Impossible._

As if on cue, a midget of a demon waddled up to Luz, dressed sloppily in a shirt too baggy for his small stature. A scarf dangled precariously from his neck, and he tripped over it as he made his way over, his cupcake flying out his tiny paw.

“Is _this_ your ferocious demon?” she asked flatly, darkly enjoying the amusing sight of Luz bending over to help him up.

_Pathetic. Why care about such weak friends?_

Amity noticed Luz reaching over to retrieve the demon’s fallen treat, but she had other plans in store. With overt deliberation, she plunged a heel into it, spitefully squashing it.

“ _Oops_ ,” she taunted coyly. “That was an accident.”

She feigned a blatant look of insincere guilt, in callous abandon of any moral conscience.

“Why are you being so mean, Amity?” Luz groaned immediately, brows furrowed in indignation.

“Because you and your pet are giving witches in training a bad name,” she replied curtly.

Amity had hoped that that would end their meaningless conversation, but a switch seemed to be flicked inside of Luz when her demon friend was brought into the equation, granting her some strange force of bravery.

“I’ll tell you what, Amity,” Luz rose up, rage tinting her voice, layers of turbulent severity crashing onto one another.

Not intimidated in the slightest, Amity continued brazenly admiring her nail polish instead of taking her seriously. Black _did_ look good on her.

“It’s one thing to say I can’t be a witch — ” rebutted Luz.

“Cause you can’t,” Amity simply scoffed.

“ — but it’s another to bully my friend.”

_All this ‘friend’ talk is making me sick._

The witch barely batted an eyelid at Luz, until —

“I challenge you to a Witch’s Duel!” she announced boldly.

Rashly.

Brashly.

But not so harshly such that it scared Amity.

Along the aisle flanked by booths, shocked gasps found their way out of everyone in the vicinity, and Amity almost burst into peals of laughter.

_What is this? Pure, reckless naivety? For a friend? Sure, I’ll play your game._

Amity’s lips contorted into a sadistic smirk as she sauntered up to Luz with arms crossed in hauteur — a manner so innately imperious that something suggested she was just playing along for the amusement factor.

_A human going up against a witch… this isn’t something you see everyday._

Amity leaned in to leer her steely eyes into Luz’s.

_Do you even know who I am? Or what you’re getting yourself into?_

Amity had already known that it was going to be such a disappointing one-sided skirmish, but she would have done just about anything to shove her elite status in that pesky human’s face.

_Maybe having a duel will finally put you in your place._

In a voice dripping with an equal mix of opprobrium and venom, she answered, “I accept.”


	6. Tor-mentor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello! it is currently 2am here as i am editing this chapter, please excuse any mistakes i might have made :"D
> 
> enjoy!

Luz regretted leaving her handbell behind.

When she told Eda she had wanted to relive the memories she and Amity shared, she had had a different picture in her head altogether — not this! She was not going to leave the Boiling Isles forever with such a horrid memory of them, let alone such a horrid representation of Amity.

But alas, Luz had wanted to look back on their memories together, and this was one of them. In the memory, she watched herself continue shooting daggers at an equally fierce Amity, the latter’s posture resembling one of crude hubris.

“Let’s set the terms for this duel, shall we?” Amity offered calmly. Her golden eyes remained oddly serene, unflinching on the surface, but glowing with agitation beneath.

Luz, on the other hand, did not try to conceal her aggravation at all. Watching King get bullied before her made for a volatile recipe that stoked her anger, and she fumed back at Amity, scarlet flaring on her face.

“One — if I win, you apologise to King for squashing his cupcake,” Luz snarled, injustice charging her tone and furrowing her brows. “And two — you admit that humans _can_ be witches too.”

“Fine by me,” Amity responded flatly.

She looked unbothered, but another insidious change in her expression soon changed that. A sinister smile found its way onto her lips, before they parted again to spew a series of slashing words towards Luz.

“But _when_ I win, not only do you have to tell the whole Covention you’re not a witch, you have to stop training,” Amity asserted balefully, eyes narrowing mercilessly as derision flickered across them.

“ _Forever._ ”

She had expected Luz to cower under the weight of her words, but the human did not budge at all. Impertinence accentuated her unfalteringly steely gaze as she continued standing her ground, as headstrong as ever.

“Fine,” Luz managed steadily after a short pause, “let’s shake on it.” She extended an open hand towards Amity, who stretched hers out as well.

But instead of shaking it, she traced a lurid circle round Luz’s hand in one swift motion.

With the fresh aureole hovering in the air like a pale lampshade, Amity reached through it to give Luz’s hand two firm pumps.

An unsettling glow lit up from within it like it was a hollowed piece of frosted glass.

“The everlasting oath is sealed,” Amity smirked, her glare chafing Luz’s courageous stance. Such a gaze had been piercing enough on its own, but the eerie radiance from the spell circle gave it an additional ghastly glow, an ominous sign.

Amity then released Luz’s hand, the lurid ring binding them together vanishing.

“Meet back inside the theatre in one hour,” she instructed, before spinning around sharply and walking away briskly in the other direction.

An air of resolute finality followed Amity from behind, and with poison lacing her tongue, she hissed, “Let’s see what kind of witch you are.”

Left in the lurch, fear and uncertainty ambushed Luz’s solitary figure, creeping under her skin as she watched Amity’s lone figure disappear down the aisle. Her foggy appearance soon turned to mist which vaporised along with the entire walkway.

*******

“Abomination, rise,” a voice rang through the murky depths of Luz’s surroundings.

Fragments of her environment tugged onto each other and pulled together like thick, sticky glue to paint a different scene before her — a bleak, barren corner of the otherwise busy Covention hall. 

Far from the hubbub of activity, a frazzled Amity had her hands tensely thrown ahead of her, in the midst of summoning an abomination.

 _I can’t afford to lose to the likes of her._  
Amity’s face hardened as a few beads of perspiration formed on her forehead, a sign of strain. She stared coldly at her feeble abomination, which rose weakly from a puddle of goo.

_Why does it feel as though I got weaker from this morning?_

She shook her head vigorously.

_No. I can’t go into the duel like this. Even if I win, I’d still look like a weakling in front of everyone. I just need to keep working hard, like Mother said —_

The dark recesses of her mind simulated an overwhelming echo chamber compelling her to push on, and she forcibly hurled her hands forward again, facial features contorting into her signature scowl, “Abomination, ri —”

A hand caressed her shoulder out of the blue, and Amity quivered at the abrupt touch, shrinking away immediately. Startled, she realised that it was just her mentor, who had been silently observing her practise.

Amity’s tense posture dissolved and slackened with composure.

“You should get some well-deserved rest before your duel, Amity,” Lilith smiled warmly at her pupil. “I think you’re tired out from all that practice you had in the morning.”

The younger witch returned the smile, a wan acknowledgement on her weary face. But she could not let go of a haunting thought that hung onto the edge of her mind.

“Miss Clawthorne,” she began meekly, “would the Emperor’s Coven revoke my recommendation by any chance?” Her voice trailed off unconfidently before she resumed, “I’m not exactly feeling the best right now.”

Gloomily, Amity cast her head downwards and rubbed the back of her neck nervously — a portrait of a disheartened victim of self-inflicted doubt.

“Amity,” Lilith bent down to match her height. “Principal Bump saw potential in you, that’s why he made me your mentor, did he not?”

Amity felt the familiar hand on her shoulder. She looked up pensively, afraid to let it cajole her.

“And as your mentor, I am proud to say that you are the strongest protege I have.”

Amity felt her ears droop in embarrassment. All her life, she had immersed herself in learning about magic under the stern teachings of her parents, but the magic of _words_ was unchartered territory to her.

Lilith’s encouragement had caught her off-guard, leaving Amity stunned.

“Thank you...” her voice was reduced to a hushed whisper of gratitude. “It makes me happy to hear that.”

Beaming, Lilith stood back up to her full height, “It makes me happy to know that as well.”

Accepting compliments on a one-on-one basis had turned out to be more uncomfortable than she initially thought, and Amity squirmed out of her grasp, “I- I’m going to go wash up a little.”

She started heading towards the nearest washroom, before turning back briefly, “I’ll meet you at the theatre in a bit, Miss Clawthorne.”

A few more of Amity’s lethargic steps forward signalled Lilith to call after her, “Oh, wait up, Amity! There’s abomination goo on the back of your neck.”

Amity halted in her steps. It must have gotten on there when she had wiped her sweat away — how disgraceful of her!

Lilith’s voice felt significantly closer, “I’ll help you get it off.”

Still uneasy from the display of care, something she was not used to at home, Amity croaked, “Oh no, it’s alright, I’ll wash it off myself in the —”

She had attempted to resume walking off, but felt her hair being lifted up. Subsequently, a palm swept down the nape of her neck in a bid to remove the viscous goo.

It felt strangely warm, but Amity knew that it was probably because she had been dripping with cold sweat a moment ago, under the stress of her own expectations for herself.

“There, it’s gone now,” Lilith twirled a finger in the air and a flash of blue light in Amity’s peripheral vision was all it took to remove the sludge from her hand.

With that, her protege thanked her one last time, and continued her way towards the washroom before her duel commenced.

*******

Flames danced along to an intoxicating, psychedelic pulse as an infernal vortex erupted forth like the fiery wings of a phoenix, licking up the surroundings and replacing them with a heated battleground, where a waterish, gargantuan abomination loomed over a timid illusion of Luz.

At this moment, it seemed that the purple giant had been scorched by the inferno, toppling backwards precariously in recoil. Behind it, Amity’s jaw fell in shock.

“How did you do that?” her astonished voice demanded as her face glowered in puzzlement.

“I, uh — Magic?” replied Luz’s equally confused voice from the far end of the amphitheatre.

Amity’s incredulous expression suggested that she would not buy such an explanation, but before she could gather herself together, a violent whirlwind had swept her abomination and her up into the air, forcefully hurling them towards the ground.

While her abomination fell over with a resounding thud, Amity landed on her feet, the dirt and dust gathering in motes of smoke beneath her feet.

“I- I saw you that time! You didn’t use your hands!” she jabbed a captious finger towards Luz.

“What are you getting at?” her voice sounded tense, on edge, an amalgamation of frantic anxiety and bewildered annoyance.

Rising with vengeful celerity, her abomination’s heavy feet pounded the ground immensely as it started pursuing Luz round the perimeter of the amphitheatre, but to no avail — Luz had managed to set off a smokescreen spell, temporarily stalling it by sending it tumbling down again. The impact from its hefty fall sent her diving towards the ground as well, and Amity seized the opportunity to catch up to her.

“How are you doing that?” came Amity’s scathing cry, growing in intensity.

Clearing the dust from her eyes, Luz then propped herself up onto her knees, turning to see a morose Amity marching forward petulantly, sneering at the pathetic state she was in.

_Tell me the truth, NOW!_

Amity’s footsteps grew closer, crossing an invisible line when Luz stretched an arm out in violent protest, “No, Amity, don’t step any closer!”

Her plea was strained with panic, ringing in Amity’s ears. She stared back at Luz’s open palm.

 _Just what are you doing?_  
A dark curiosity piqued within Amity, and it was not long before she realised she could wield this to her advantage.

“Why, Luz?” her growl was laden with malicious intent. “What happens if I step closer?” she tested, threatening to stamp a boot down in front of her, savouring the look of guilty distress on Luz’s trembling face.

The duo locked eyes in a fragile standstill, tension adumbrating a seething rivalry.

It was as if time slowed down to a painful crawl between them, until a familiar demon she had met earlier crashed onto the ground before Amity from out of nowhere. A low grumbling resonated beneath the earth, before towering spikes jutted out without a warning, lifting King up high as he lay supine on the bed of nails.

Astonished silence pervaded the atmosphere in the theatre as everyone watched King struggle to remove himself from the spikes, but in vain.

“I knew it!” Amity screeched, resentment surging in her bitter voice. She had an accusatory finger pointed towards Luz again. “You _were_ cheating!”

Behind her, a sombre Lilith came forwards, hands clasped together in silent observance.

Not far from her, Luz felt her heart being pricked by the bite of Amity’s words.

“Amity — No!” she began, but the words she uttered only sent the witch spiralling further down a whirlpool of indignation, knuckles turning white from fists clenched too hard.

“It wasn’t my idea to cheat,” Luz continued earnestly, advancing towards Amity in a bid to reason with her. “And when I found out, I tried to stop it, but —”

Her diplomatic approach was not as welcomed as she had planned for it to be, because Amity just shot her a hard glare with an accompanying sour scowl.

“Who could believe anything _you_ say?” she snapped tersely and turned away as quickly, storming off towards the exit.

_What a liar! She’s been nothing but a fraud, ever since that day — just like Willow!_

Amity’s teeth grated together viciously. She had had enough of others trying to invalidate her status with their second-rate magic.

_I will never be like them — I don’t cut corners when it comes to magic._

Just like before, she had barely taken a handful of steps before a voice called out after her, beckoning her to stop.

“Wait just a sec, Miss Protege.”

She heard Eda’s footsteps gaining on her and felt a sudden, slight breeze tackle the nape of her neck when her hair was lifted up.

“Hey! What are you —” Amity fidgeted restlessly under Eda’s grip. The senior witch must have had removed something from her neck, because she raised it up for all to see the next moment.

It did not take Amity long to find out that this did not bode well for her.

“A power glyph from the Construction Coven,” Eda stated solemnly, holding out the insidious patch like a coveted possession. Amity’s eyes widened in shock as she caught sight of it against the light, and the gasps of alarmed dismay from the crowd only confirmed her growing dread.

Intentionally or not, she had cheated.

_H-how did it get there? I don’t remember putting it there!_

Amity brushed her fingers along her neck subconsciously.

_I didn’t feel it there at all! I- I didn’t cheat! Don’t lump me with that human!_

A knot formed itself in her stomach, and her lips were dry. A familiar headache began to throb under her temples as she recalled the day’s events.

_Miss Clawthorne must have put it there just now… Did she lie when she said I was her strongest protege?_

She felt nauseous, sick, horrified.

In front of the crowd, she shrank significantly, ashamed of herself for not realising that something had been amiss sooner.

_Even my own mentor doesn’t believe in me…_

The entire complex was reeling by now, and this dizzy sensation was only made worse by the petty contretemps that had just broken out between Eda and Lilith, who were squabbling about the other having cheated.

_I have a reputation to uphold… This was my duel, what right did she have to interfere with it?_

“But… I didn’t know!” Amity bit her lip, her pale face aghast with mortification. She stared up at the looming crowd with fright and confusion, legs itching and screaming for her to run off in shame.

She felt so, so small.

_Everything… everything is ruined… My status, my hopes of getting into the Emperor’s Coven..._

From the corner of her hazy eye, she saw Luz’s amorphous outline advancing towards her. “Amity, wait!” she called out, reaching out a conciliatory arm.

_All because of **you**._

A plaintive look of dejection flashed across her face, presenting its raw form in the woeful way in which her nose crinkled and her eyes lost their brilliance. 

_**You** destroyed everything._

With a shiver of her frame, Amity fled the arena, her vision blurring out all around her, exactly like the last time it had happened in school.

Luz had been nothing but a bad omen — first trying to sabotage her reputation in school, and now humiliating her in public. When was she going to stop botching things up for her?

All around Amity, everything became a sloppy mess of indefinite shapes and smeared colours, all whirling into one, enormous indefinite swirl.

*******

Urgent to find a dark corner to isolate herself in, Amity launched herself into the alleyway not far from the theatre, her misery spilling all around her, leaking and dripping.

She sat down on the cold, hard floor, burying her head in her arms, not wanting to see, or be seen. Her folded figure looked forlorn, lost — an outcast far from the bustle of society.

Just as she was beginning to embrace the stillness of her dingy refuge, she heard that impertinent voice again — “Amity… I’m sorry.”

She lifted her head from her arms, eyes still struggling to hold back tears. But even in all her rue, Amity could not let her shattered pride give way any further in front of that cursed girl. She glowered at Luz again — a false front intended to obscure the battered state she was in. 

“Ugh, seriously? Just leave me alone,” trapped in her throat was rage lying dormant, made fatigued from trying to put up another fight. She looked away.

Being in Luz’s presence was suffocating. Amity hated her.

_What does she know about putting in the effort to finally be good at something? She only knows how to screw things up._

Amity clutched her frail heart, a void in her stretching and crystallising to leave her breathless, a crushing feeling she knew too well. After all, it usually followed the verbal abuse her parents meted out on her every now and then — “You’re not good enough”; “Why can’t you be more like your siblings?”; “Act like a Blight, Amity.”

Their voices overlapped in her head, growing louder and more painful to hear—

“I didn’t mean to embarrass you,” a hushed, earnest voice cut through the jarring static, dissipating it.

The simple warmth of Luz’s voice stung at first, eliciting a rancorous retaliation from Amity.

“That’s ALL you ever do! First at school, and now this!” her voice was coarse, revealing fresh wounds from behind the once vituperative tone she kept throwing in Luz’s way. 

“Yeah, but —” Luz continued, but the quivering gloss laden across Amity’s eyes cut her off when they made eye contact. A dull bronze parentheses enshrouded her eyes, giving them a defeated look, as if she had been pushed to her wit’s end.

Amity’s usual imperial eyes were now pained, powerless — unrecognisable.

“You made me look like a fool in front of the Emperor’s Coven,” she shot up weakly, “— my future!”

Luz could only look back at her, at a loss as to what to say as opposed to the onslaught of words that continued pouring forth from Amity.

“You think it’s so easy to be a witch. I have been working my whole life to get to the top!” she cried, her face scrunching up at the thought.

“You LOST! You cheated!” she edged closer to Luz, desperate to force her to concede, but Luz could hear the fight in her voice slowly waning, thinning out.

“SAY IT! Say you’re not a witch!” Amity cried.

The strain in her voice stung, and Luz stared back at the wounded look carved into Amity’s face, a starkly different side to the acerbic girl she had just known a week ago.

Luz’s face fell at the sight.

“I’m not a witch,” she finally muttered after a sliver of hesitation, her eyes mirroring the defeat Amity’s had displayed only seconds ago.

It was now Amity’s turn for her features to soften.

Dazed, she watched as Luz knelt down, producing a notepad from her pocket. Copying her stance, Amity observed silently as Luz began drawing a symbol onto the front page with a pencil, before tapping on the completed sketch with a finger.

The paper crumpled into a ball of light, which Luz cupped gingerly in both hands. As she angled the glowing sphere towards Amity, its soft light highlighted the warmth of her smile.

“But I’m training hard to be one,” Luz gave a wider beam, shifting her gaze from the luminous orb to Amity, who stared at the captivating lustre in her hands.

_She… cast a light spell! Father taught me that years ago too…_

A faint trace of a smile tickled her lips as she recalled her childhood, remembering the joy that came with nailing a spell.

But Amity caught herself and turned away in forced disdain — she was not about to be swayed over to Luz’s side so easily. “That’s nothing. A child could do a light spell,” she remarked apathetically.

Peering over her shoulder, Amity watched as the soft radiance of the orb died down when Luz brought her palms together to extinguish the light, a look of dejection crossing her face.

Something tugged at Amity’s heart, a little hook in her chest. At last, she turned back towards Luz, “But… I’ve never seen it cast like that.”

Both of them exchange a look of reconciliation, their gaze forming a bridge, inviting each other in.

“It doesn’t come naturally to me like it does for you,” Luz explained, holding out her notepad, “so I’ve had to improvise.”

Luz’s sincerity permeated through the once thick and opaque air that smothered Amity in that alleyway, stirring something in her.

_This human…_

A sigh of resignation left Amity’s throat as a feeling of tender gentleness washed over her.

Swiftly, she drew another glowing circle in the air and grabbed Luz’s hand through it. Soft light radiated from within both their hands, before fizzling out like before.

_How can I fault her for something she didn’t mean to do?_

“The oath is unbound,” Amity let go of Luz’s hand and stood up curtly, about to make a clinical departure.

She took a step forward into the bright hall, ready to extricate herself from the conversation, but Luz’s hopeful voice called out from behind, “Did it work? Can I still learn magic?”

“Humans have no magical ability,” replied Amity flatly, before she turned round to look back at Luz, “but I doubt that’ll stop you.”

Without saying anything more, she vanished into an orderly row of booths, her two-toned hair swaying along in time with her gait. 

_She’s doing her best, and I can respect that._

Smiling faintly, Amity trudged forward, navigating the exit. She was tired out, and was no longer in any mood to continue attending the Covention. As the exit doors of the hall slid apart, a pleasant gush of fresh air greeted her, reminding her of the natural purity of Luz’s voice.

_Maybe that human isn’t so bad after all._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading! :)
> 
> due to my upcoming tests and ever-increasing school work, i'll be on a hiatus for a month or so.
> 
> thank you to all for reading this fic so far! i will be back
> 
> — sam


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